LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







V7V, 

— 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



CROSS OF CHRIST 




A broken altar, Zord, thy servant rears, =jj ^ 

Made of a heart, and cemented With tears^^ - 

Whose parts are as thy 'hand 'did 'frame '5^ 

■No wortcmaris tool ha/h taudtidthe same. =j^ 3 

A heart alone ||^ 1 

Js such a- stone fill | 

As nothinor, bid gB§ 

Thy pow'r.dvth ad. =1^ j 






dfrny hard, heart 



To -praise thy name: 
TkaidflduuicetofwZdTny peace, 
Tlzese stones to praise thee 7nay not cease. 

OhJlet iky Messed sacrifice he mine; 

And sanctify this cdtcvr to 7?e thdne^^s 





HISTOEY 


OF THE 


CROSS OP CHRIST. 


BY THE REV. WILLIAM R. ALGER. 


" Crux Vera 

Non in ligno, Sed in Signo, 

Ducis 

Victoria, 

Crucis 

• 

Gloria, 

Priyatio vitae Donatio." 


Bear Lord ! who thine own cross to death did'st bear. 
Teach us its spirit, and thy life, to share. 


•3L H r. 

CAMBRIDGE AND BOSTON: 


JAMES MTJNEOE AND COMPANY. 
1851. 

L 



3^ 



LO 



Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
James Munroe & Company, in the Clerk's Office of the District 
Court of the District of Mass. 




JOHN FORD, 

PRINTER, CAMBRTDGEPORT, MASS. 



TO 

THE MOUNT PLEASANT 

CONGREGATIONAL 

SOCIETY, 

THIS LITTLE WORK 

IS 

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 

BY 

THEIR PASTOR. 



My God replied, 

"Jesus once died 

Thy soul to save 

Then rose to heaven." 
Die, then, doubt, sloth, impurity and pride*, 
With all your fearful, deadly brood, go hide 

In sin's last grave. 

Then rise, heart's love, 

To live by truth 

With Christ above 

In endless youth ; 

And when death calls 

And this frame falls, 

My soul shall rise 

Beyond the skies, 
And being pardoned, crowned, by him, 
Shall praise him with an endless hymn. 



PREFACE. 



The idea of this little book was suggested to the 
author by perusing " Cructana," an interesting work, 
by John Holland, published in England in 1835. Some 
of the quotations, and some of the facts embodied in 
the following sketch, were derived from that source. 
But the plan, execution, uses of the present essay are, 
in most respects, so different from those of Mr. Hol- 
land's volume, that no further acknowledgment or refer- 
ence to his work seems to be required. The hope of 
the author in presenting this humble production to the 
public, is that it may awaken Christian feelings in those 
who read it, by showing how the Cross of Christ justly 
appeals to the reason, the imagination, and the heart of 
a living believer. " Cruciana " is a collection of miscel- 
laneous information and literature concerning the Cross. 
" Justi Lipsi De Cruce," — a Latin book printed in 1598 — 
is a literal account, with engravings, of the Cross, its 
various shapes, and its use as an instrument of torture 
in different countries and times. The present work gives 
the symbolic history of that now hallowed object — the 



lessons taught by its fortunes and uses. This field the 
writer believes to have been hitherto unoccupied ; and 
it seemed to him so capable, that he trusts a sufficient 
apology will be found in what he has written, for pub- 
lishing it. 

W. E. A. 
Roxbury, March 29th, 1851. 



HISTORY OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 



" The preaching of the Cross." 

[Paul. 

Tracing the history of the Cross 
will help us to see its moral meanings 
and feel its spiritual power. It was 
a significant token for ages before 
Christianity adopted and sanctified it. 
It was sometimes viewed in antiquity 
as the sign of a man standing with 
outstretched arms. More than one 
ancient nation honored it as a symbol 
of the Universe, on account of its 
pointing to the four quarters of the 
compass. The Druids were accustom- 
ed to consecrate to the object of their 



12 HISTORY OF THE 

worship the most majestic oak of the 
grove, which they stripped of all its 
limbs, except the two largest so left 
as to form a gigantic Cross towering 
in the mystic ring at high moon, with 
a meaning unknown to us. It is sin- 
gular that the earliest use of the 
Cross made known to us, was a sym- 
bol of immortality. The crux ansata 
was thus employed in the temples 
and religious rites of the Egyptians. 
It was also used as a sacred emblem 
by some of the Hindoo sects, inde- 
pendently of the establishment of 
Christianity, as was discovered, to 
their great astonishment, by the first 
Christians who visited the East for 
missionary purposes. 

Let this striking coincidence be re- 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 13 

garded as an "unintended yet pro- 
found symbol, prophetic of final union. 
The true destiny of all men is one; 
the genuine aim of all religions is 
one ; the God towards whom all as- 
pire is one ; the Redeemer, all need 
to remove their sins and supply their 
wants, is one. The Orientals were 
farther advanced in thought and in- 
ward experience ; the Christians were 
in closer connection with the external 
providence of God. The use of the 
Cross among the former, let it be sup- 
posed, then, was as the emblem of an 
abstract desire after God, and a spec- 
ulative doctrine of the future life : 
among the latter, let us consider it as 
the corresponding emblem of an in- 
carnate revelation of God, and a his- 



14 HISTORY OF THE 

toric reality of the resurrection. 
What those priestly contemplators 
intellectually discerned and hoped, 
Christians have sensibly realized, seen 
with their eyes, and handled with 
their hands ; for the Word was made 
flesh, and dwelt among them, and they 
beheld his glory. And as the Holy 
Being who, uniting the human and 
the Divine in his own person, brought 
God down to men, and lifted men up 
to God, was "the Desire of all Na- 
tions," so shall he finally be acknowl- 
edged as the rightful Lord of all 
hearts, and have for " his inheritance 
the utmost bounds of the heathen." 
Then shall the mighty Family of the 
East, brought to the full truth, and 
kneeling before the ancient symbol 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 15 

of their faith, the Cross, planted in 
the rising sun ; and the great Family 
of the West, nurtured by the Gospel, 
and kneeling before the modern sym- 
bol of their faith, the Cross, planted 
in the setting sun — join around the 
earth in one swelling ascription of 
praise, through the common name of 
Christ, unto the infinite Father of 
them all. 

Let us go back to the earthly days 
of our Saviour, and follow downwards 
the account of the Roman and Jew- 
ish cross. It was an instrument com- 
posed of two transverse pieces of 
wood, upon which the vilest capital 
criminals were nailed by their hands 
and feet to die, in expiation of their 
offences. Common offenders, who 



16 HISTORY OF THE 

were condemned to death, were exe- 
cuted in a less barbarous manner. 
Crucifixion was reserved for the most 
degraded outcasts and slaves, those 
guilty of the most aggravated and 
terrible crimes, — the very dregs of 
the time. Cicero, painting the illegal 
and foul deeds of Verres, the tyrant 
of Sicily, with the darkest colors of 
his rhetoric, charges him not so much 
with presuming to murder an inno- 
cent man, as with daring to crucify a 
Eoman citizen. The cross, according- 
ly, was held in utter abhorence, as 
the badge of an executioner, signifi- 
cant of the expiring agonies of the 
worst of men, a token of ignominy, 
abomination, and loathing. It was 
used for this purpose, and regarded in 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 17 

this manner, for several centuries 
among various nations. A host of 
wretched miscreants had perished on 
it. Many a poor victim, too, who de- 
served a better fate, had suffered on 
it. It had come to be generally con- 
sidered as the very emblem of defeat- 
ed crime, and disgraceful punishment : 
a synonyme for all that was at once 
powerless and execrable. 

Such was its history until Jesus 
Christ died on it, and then how it was 
changed ! In an instant, as it were, 
it became the most glorious instru- 
ment, the most resistless symbol that 
will ever be known. That such a 
Being should have died on it, in such 
a spirit, and for such a purpose — that 
the spotless image of God, from self- 

2 



18 HISTORY OF THE 

sacrificing love, for the enforcement 
of divine truth, should have died on 
it — this completely changed its sig- 
nificance and its associations. The 
fanatic Jews, and enraged Romans — 
blinded murderers, not knowing what 
they did — reared a cross upon Cal- 
vary. It stood there, as many a one 
had stood before, sight of horror. 
But he who was about to die thereon, 
without a parallel, was " The Lamb of 
God that taketh away the sins of 
mankind." They transfixed his bleed- 
ing limbs, and a lifted " him " up/' 
ignorant that he should thus be en- 
abled to " Draw all men unto Him." 
Love of man, and trust of God, were 
blended in his features, and forgive- 
ness fell from his lips, while, an ever- 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 19 

memorable spectacle, he hung there 
dying. At last he raised his fainting 
head, and exclaimed, " It is finished." 
And immediately the dark and shame- 
ful cross was transfigured and irradi- 
ate, the blood-stained wood beamed 
with a glory that pales all the splen- 
dor of the world. It was henceforth 
to be the accredited symbol of God's 
love, and Christ's divinity, and man's 
redemption, and death's overthrow, and 
Heaven's immortal brightness. 

Nothing can better illustrate the 
change wrought in the meaning and 
associations of the cross, and the pow- 
er flung around it by the martyrdom 
of Jesus, than the intense enthusiasm 
that ran through all Christendom, 
when, in the fourth century, it was 



20 HISTORY OF THE 

reported that Helena, the mother of 
the reigning Emperor, having em- 
ployed some laborers to dig at Golgo- 
tha, had found the very cross on 
which the Saviour suffered. It was 
publicly shown during the celebration 
of Easter ; and an immense crowd of 
pious believers, attracted from every 
portion of the Christian world, stretch- 
ing in thousands upon thousands, far 
almost as the eye could reach, when 
it was borne aloft, swayed to and fro 
in prayer, and thrilled with fear as 
they contemplated the awful wood. 

The power of the cross comes, of 
course, from what it suggests, from its 
symbolic meaning. Its attraction is 
two-fold j derived first from the pow- 
er of a natural sympathy with him 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 21 

whose person, whose w r orks, whose 
sufferings it typifies ; and, secondly, 
from the power of the supernatural 
revelation whose sense and force there 
centre and culminate. 

No one can become acquainted 
with Jesus, can know him as he was, 
without being filled with admiration 
for his godlike attributes, and pene- 
trated with sympathy for him on 
account of his virtues, and painful 
sacrifice. The reason why so many 
persons remain unmoved by the pic- 
ture of his character, and the story of 
his life, unredeemed by the power of 
his spirit, is simply that they never 
knew him. So unparalleled were his 
purity, tenderness, and self-denial ; so 
altogether lovely was he in character ; 



22 HISTORY OP THE 

so harmless, so sublimely beneficent 
was his career, that every heart must 
turn to him with spontaneous rever- 
ence, and yearn to yield him the tri- 
bute of a holy personal love. And 
then to think that He, that such a be- 
ing, should have been so harshly 
treated, so cruelly murdered, while he 
endured all without a murmur, and 
spent his whole existence for nothing 
else but to bless others — this is what 
must draw forth the pitying and 
grateful tears of all time, and clothe 
the cross with a mighty power over 
human affections. That he who had 
the gentlest heart that ever throbbed 
in sympathy with mortal weal or woe, 
should have been so neglected, de- 
spised, spurned, and cast out — that 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 23 

those feet which never wearied on 
errands of mercy, as he still went 
about doing good, and those hands 
which were laid in benediction on the 
heads of little children, which touch- 
ed the eyes of the blind with sight, 
and raised the broken-hearted sinner 
with a brother's love and a Saviour's 
forgiveness, should have been nailed 
in agony to the accursed tree — that 
he who was the perfection of every 
virtue, without a taint of guile or the 
shadow of a sin, should have been 
made to die in such ignominy, and in 
such anguish ; the last sight that met 
his eye, the mocking sneers of his 
foes ; the last sound that murmured 
in his ear, the blasphemous jeers of 
the rabble, — all this rising in the 



24 HISTORY OF THE 

soul of the Christian, as he contem- 
plates the cross, is what first gives 
that symbol its power. The cross is 
made touching and attractive, there- 
fore, by a natural sympathy with the 
person of the beloved Jesus, who was 
willing to die upon it for us; and 
this power will never fade away until 
the human heart becomes a stone. 

In the next place, the cross has 
power, as being the received emblem 
of God's last and highest revelation, 
the visible sign of his interest in man, 
the standing proof of his great love, 
the memorial of his redeeming pur- 
pose, the full personification of that 
infallible religion which came down 
from Heaven. God so loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 25 

Son to die as a reconciling sacrifice, 
that men's hearts might be melted, 
that they might believe in the Fath- 
er's love, and be assured of eternal 
life. That is the divine import of the 
crucifixion, and hence comes its chief 
attraction. It tells the poor benight- 
ed wanderers of earth, that beyond 
the visible expanse dwells a Being of 
infinite power and mercy, who loves 
them, and will save them, and bring 
them to his heavenly home ; that he 
has sent a beloved son into the world, 
to declare this truth and make him ful- 
ly known, to illustrate the aim of life 
by his example, demonstrate the divin- 
ity of his mission by miraculous works, 
and lift the curtain from immortality 
by a resurrection from the dead. It 



26 HISTORY OF THE 

assures man that he is not banished 
from God, nor isolated from the sym- 
pathies of the universe, nor doomed 
to perish in the grave ; but that the 
Father is with him, that Heaven cares 
for earth and waits to welcome its re- 
deemed ones to a deathless shore. 
Such is the story the cross of Christ 
tells to our poor, weary, afflicted hu- 
manity ; and until all faith in it has 
died out from among men, its chosen 
symbol will not lose its power over 
the mind, and over the heart, of the 
world. 

The cross is mighty, then, not alone 
through the power of all the noblest 
elements of humanity, and all the 
deepest interests of earth, intensified 
and gathered there ; but also through 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 27 

the pleading presence of God, and 
the anxious sympathy of Heaven, 
there embodied and made known. It 
was not alone the perfection of man, 
but also a direct manifestation of God, 
that hung and bled on Calvary ; and 
not only the earth shuddered, but al- 
so the Heavens were opened, when 
he expired. God's own love, shown 
for the conversion of a rebellious 
race, was in that heart which was 
pierced by the soldier's spear. The 
chains which bind this world with 
mutual sympathies to another sphere, 
were illuminated, made visible, and 
never again to be forgotten, when 
Christ triumphed as he yielded. 

One of the old painters has left a 
picture which shows a profound in- 



28 HISTORY OF THE 

sight into the meaning of that por- 
tentous hour, typifying the moment- 
ous truths that God has descended to 
man, that Heaven takes an interest 
in earth. The Saviour is fainting in 
death. His mother and two or three 
disciples are prostrate at the foot of 
the cross, in speechless woe. The 
mob reaches widely around, the vari- 
ous expressions of their up-turned 
visages visible in the glare of torches 
and the supernal light. But over this 
heart-rending scene of all horrors 
mingled in the gloom, streams a 
dazzling radiance from above. From 
the summit of the cross, far out 
through illimitable space, and along 
the open vistas of the clouds, throng 
the angels of God, — cherubim, rank 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 29 

beyond rank, seraphim, choir above 
choir, crowding through all the sky. 
This host of heavenly spirits, their 
faces radiant with divine beauty and 
joy and triumph, are striking their 
harps to notes of praise, and joining 
in one exulting song of victory and 
thanksgiving, whose burden, rolling 
through the confines of creation, 
sounds on forevermore, — " Blessing, 
and honor, and glory, and power be 
unto God that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb that was slain.'' 
Below the cross, the earth was shroud* 
ed in darkness, and humanity, in 
tears, refused to be comforted ; above 
it, the heavens were filled with un- 
wonted splendor, and the glittering 
hosts were shouting for joy. 



30 HISTORY OF THE 

And now, looking upon the cross 
as a token charged with the accumu- 
lated power of the personal history of 
Christ, and with the whole power of 
the revealed religion, sent through 
him from God, we are prepared to 
understand how and why it was that 
Paul, and the other primitive be- 
lievers, so readily accepted it as the 
sign of their faith, magnified it, and 
gloried in it. They but chimed in 
with what they saw to be the won- 
drous plan of salvation ; namely, the 
overthrow of pride and selfishness by 
voluntary humiliation and self-sacri- 
fice, in an example divinely set for all 
to follow. God might, had it so pleas- 
ed him, have stretched his almighty 
arm from the central heavens, and 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 31 

with bare-faced power, have swept all 
evil from the globe ; but, having re- 
spect unto the freedom of the soul, 
he chose to send his Son to toil, and 
plead, and suffer, and die ; he chose 
the foolish, weak, and base things of 
the world, to confound the wise, 
mighty, and honorable things — that 
no flesh should glory in his presence. 
The early Christians, realizing this, 
determined, lest the cross should be 
of none effect, to know nothing save 
Jesus Christ, and him crucified. In- 
spired by the astonishing fact that he 
who was in the form of God, con- 
descended, and made himself of no 
reputation, and took upon him the 
form of a servant, and humbled him- 
self, and became obedient unto death, 



32 HISTORY OF THE 

even the death of the cross, they re- 
solved to imitate him, and counted 
all things loss for the excellency of 
the knowledge thus given them. See- 
ing the wickedness and vanity of this 
world warring against the interests of 
eternity — the opposition of its whole 
spirit to the spirit and conditions of 
redemption — they boldly made their 
choice, and took their stand, exclaim- 
ing in the front of all pagan haughti- 
ness, "God forbid that we should 
glory save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, whereby the world is 
crucified unto us, and we unto the 
world." And so the cross soon grew 
emblematic of all Christianity, and 
its assumption became the badge of 
discipleship. " Henceforth," they said, 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 33 

" let no man trouble us, for we bear 
in our bodies the marks of the Lord 
Jesus" — the prints of that crucifixion 
whereby we are dead unto sin, the 
flesh and this world, and alive unto 
righteousness, God and immortality. 
Hitherto the image of the cross had 
only been seen, lowering upon Gol- 
gotha, the place of a skull, and plantr 
ed in Aceldama, a field of blood. But 
then, carved from the richest materi- 
als, ornamented with gems and gold, 
it became a conspicuous object in the 
private dwellings of all Christian be- 
lievers, was erected in their places of 
worship, was worn next their breasts, 
and often, with a pious fervor of 
which we have but too little experi- 
ence, pressed to their lips. Wherever 

3 



34 HISTORY OF THE 

in the known world a Christian set 
foot, there the cross was carried. 
Wherever the name of Christ was 
heard, or " preaching was attempted, 
the speaker held the crucifix in his 
hand, and enforced the truth of his 
arguments by pointing to the wounds, 
and appealing to the bleeding image." 
The ignominious symbol of a dying 
felon gradually extended its con- 
quests, transformed its meaning, and 
was covered with resplendence and 
power. Where was it not carried, 
by devoted disciples and heroic mis- 
sionaries, as the all-conquering token 
of what is holiest, strongest, and dear- 
est ; even as the token of a pardoning 
God, a sacrificed Redeemer, a tri- 
umphant resurrection, and an unend- 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 35 

ing Heaven ! Ethiopia saw it, and 
stretched out her hands to God. It 
was borne, with proselyting speech, 
among the pagan swarms of China 
and India. It overthrew the blood- 
stained altars of Odin and Thor, and 
subdued the fierce hordes of Europe 
to its benignant sway. The first act 
of the discoverer of America upon 
landing, was to plant it on the shore, 
and consecrate the continent to the 
name and faith of Him who breathed 
out his life upon it. The rude Green- 
landers were melted to tears by its 
pathos ; and the dwellers of the isles 
of the sea learned to recognize its 
significence, and adore. Thus the in- 
famy of the cross was wiped away, 
and the foolishness of preaching pre- 



36 HISTORY OF THE 

vailed, till that which once the world 
most despised, by the consummate 
glory of Christ grew most illustrious, 
signed the beggar's forehead, mount- 
ed crown and throne, blazed upon the 
flags of nations, tipped the domes of 
mighty cathedrals, adorned the splen- 
did mausoleums of kings, and hallow- 
ed the peasant's funeral turf. 

One of the most unfortunate mis- 
takes men have . made, is the perse- 
vering attempt to construct a theo- 
logy, instead of deduce a religion, 
from the cross. It has been regarded 
as the exponent of abstract dogmas, 
the emblem of a cold and awful sys- 
tem of avenging justice, rather than 
as the embodiment of divine feelings, 
the sign of a regenerative, all-forgiv- 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 37 

ing goodness. The first evil of the 
arbitrary interpretation of the cross 
has been the birth of intolerance and 
persecution. Men, supposing the hon- 
or of God, and the salvation of the 
soul, to depend on the belief of a cer- 
tain mysterious, appalling theory of 
the crucifixion, have been led to 
hate, and excommunicate, pursue with 
fire and sword, all who rejected that 
view. Had they regarded the cross, 
not as a symbol of law, appealing to 
the intellect, interpreting the ne- 
cessities of God's government; but as 
a symbol of pity, of melting chari- 
ty, appealing to the heart, revealing 
the merciful kindness of God's free 
grace, it would have softened the as- 
perity of hostile opinions, and joined 



38 HISTORY OF THE 

all souls in the unity of one spirit. 
Think not upon the cross as the fear- 
ful embodiment of a theology, but 
contemplate it as the bright symbol 
of a religion. For as Moses lifted up 
the fiery serpent in the wilderness 
that all who had been bitten by the 
scorpions might look on it and live, so 
Jesus was lifted upon the cross that 
whosoever receives him as the Son of 
God, and cherishes his spirit, may be 
assured of eternal life. Whosoever 
fills his heart with the feeling that 
filled the heart of the Saviour, that 
radiates from the cross, has passed 
from death unto life ; no matter what 
his special theological tenets are, he 
has acquired all that is requisite for 
the perfect redemption of the world. 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 39 

Another evil which has resulted 
from making the death of Christ 
teach an arbitrary scheme of theology, 
instead of enforce a practical lesson 
of sympathy and duty, is the remov- 
ing of the cross from contact with 
personal conscience and effort. The 
fancies of men have pictured it as 
the instrument of a purchased deliver- 
ance, in which they can do nothing 
but submit to a predestined decree. 
They have described its foot as pierc- 
ing the depths of hell, when the in- 
finite victim died, shaking the throne 
of Satan to its overthrow and rescuing 
half his captives, while its summit 
rose above the skies and cast redoub- 
led radiance over the shining ranks 
of heaven. According to this scheme, 



40 HISTORY OF THE 

those who are of the elect are safe, 
the price has been paid, they have 
only to rejoice and give thanks ; those 
who are of the reprobate are unalter- 
ably doomed, the sentence has been 
fixed from eternity by an absolute 
fate, they can only submit in passive 
despair to their terrific doom. We 
shudder at such a theory. We protest 
against all such views as unchristian. 
We warn men against them as unwar- 
ranted in Scripture, unfounded in fact, 
and bad in influence. With the ear- 
nestness of an intense conviction, we 
maintain that the core of the Gospel 
is something very different, is no ab- 
stract dogma at all, but is a living 
principle of faith in God, and a glow- 
ing sentiment of good will to men. In 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 41 

a single word, we believe that, accord- 
ing to the design of God, the intention 
of Christ, and the nature of the case, 
the legitimate object and teaching of 
the Cross is a lesson of self-immolating, 
all-conquering love. Its real and prac- 
tical meaning is that pervading, puri- 
fying, inspiring spirit of goodness 
which leads one to deny himself, keep 
the commandments, love God and man 
with the whole soul, and go about 
doing good, willingly offering up the 
life a sacrifice for the advancement 
of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 
This is the essence and glory of Chris- 
tianity. The urgent proclamation of 
this to men is the true u preaching of 
the cross." The prevalence of this is 
aH the Gospel proposes, or the world 



42 HISTORY OF THE 

needs. This is the foolishness of God 
which the Apostle affirms is wiser than 
men ; and this is the weakness of God 
which he says is stronger than men. 

The cross does not unveil a magical 
theory, but emphasizes, with miraculous 
sanctions and motives, the rational 
truth. It demands not a barren belief, 
but a fruitful love. By this view it 
will be seen the crucifixion has a per- 
sonal office to fulfil, in awakening the 
consciousness and renewing the char- 
acter of every disciple through his 
own voluntary attention and effort. 
The Saviour willingly submitted to 
that cruel death, with forgiveness and 
benediction on his lips, to exemplify 
the character of the Father, to show 
the awful nature and depth of the 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 43 

wickedness which could perpetrate 
so unutterable an outrage, and to ex- 
ert a moral power on the human heart 
which would melt down its hardness, 
purge away its impurities, fill it with 
admiration and gratitude, and lift it 
into the kingdom of divine emotions 
and immortal ideas. We are to co- 
operate with the Holy Spirit by using 
means to effect these results. The 
proper aims and influences of our 
Saviour's sufferings and death combine 
to secure one end ; that is, to produce 
in the soul of the disciple the spirit of 
the master, the spirit of humility, self- 
denial, disinterested piety and philan- 
thropy. It is therefore the duty of 
every individual to take his stand in 
hallowed imagination at the foot of 



44 HISTORY OF THE 

the Cross, in struggling penitence, and 
meditation, and prayer, until lie feels 
and is redeemed by its power, until 
he is consecrated to the obedience of 
righteousness, caught up by the love 
of God, penetrated with sympathy for 
the great brotherhood of forlorn and 
sighing humanity. While the soul of 
man is oppressed with injustice, defiled 
with unclean desires, deformed and 
tormented by haughtiness, envy, cruel- 
ty — the Cross of Christ is made of none 
effect. In vain did his Saviour bleed 
for him. He may boast of the sound- 
ness of his faith, observe the ceremo- 
nies, and parade the outward symbols 
of religion, but all is hollow and worth- 
less so long as 

" The breast-worn cross betrays no cross below." 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 45 

Ah ! who can stand at the foot of the 
cross and gaze on the face of the Son 
of Man, and remember his toiling out- 
cast and smitten life, and hear the 
faint accents of his voice, and see him 
die, without feeling the inconsistency 
of selfishness, pride and coldness, with 
a Christian's profession, without feel- 
ing the duties of earth and the claims 
of heaven profoundly impressed upon 
his conscience. The poverty, lone- 
liness, sacrifice, love and spirituality 
of the Cross of Christ rebuke and fling 
dimness and shame on the arrogant 
luxuries and honors of the pampered 
children of this world, and urge upon 
them the lowliest spirit and the loftiest 
aim. And there have been those who 
have learned that lesson well and prac- 



46 HISTORY OF THE 

tised it to the last. There passes before 
the mind a sainted multitude of those 
who have taken up the cross, and in its 
full spirit pressed on in the steps of 
their great example, regardless of the 
shame, the danger, and the toil, despis- 
ing the pleasures and prizes of the world, 
keeping their consciences pure, their 
whole lives consecrated to the glory 
of Him who was crucified, ministering 
to the poor, the loathed, and the sick, 
comforting the mourner's heart, breath- 
ing the words of salvation in the ear 
of the dying, preaching the religion of 
redemption in foreign lands among 
savage people, expiring with the cross 
in their hands and the name of Christ 
on their lips, and borne into heaven, 
their transfiguration garments already 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 47 

on. The genuine " preaching of the 
cross" is that which tends to produce 
such a result. Let us not deceive 
ourselves then with arbitrary creeds, 
not remain coldly afar off, but draw 
near and be melted with sorrow and 
fired with resolve. Let us, humbly 
and devoutly kneeling there, vow 
never to forsake the heavenward 
path in which the Cross leads its fol- 
lowers to the bosom of their Master, 
who awaits their emancipated coming 
at the right hand of God. 

The present meaning, associations, 
honors of the Cross, contrasted with 
its ancient ignominious uses, and with 
the profound loathing in which it was 
held — the startling and total change 
herein implied — affords an interesting 



48 HISTORY OF THE 

and powerful argument for the his- 
torical genuineness and authenticity 
of Christianity. Go, in imagination, 
from the present position of that 
potent sign, step by step, along the 
backward path of its diminishing 
radiance and increasing disgrace, and 
you must come at last to a summit of 
Calvary and a death of Christ, to a 
place and an hour and an event where 
and when a transfiguring power was 
thrown about it, causing it to shine with 
growing lustre and wield an accumu- 
lating influence thenceforwards till 
now. The phenomena of the history 
of the Cross are inexplicable, save 
upon the supposition that Jesus, a 
being of superhuman virtues and au- 
thority, really suffered, as the Records 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 49 

declare. " What/' pertinently observes 
the ingenious writer to whom we owe 
this thought ; " what must take place 
before we could see, without a shud- 
der, and with emotions of reverence, 
the gallows on the spires of our 
churches, the gallows in our parlors, 
the gallows an ornament on our per- 
sons, the gallows wrought in all our 
most beautiful and sacred works of 
art?" To effect a revolution of his- 
toric association, and of esthetic taste, 
so immense, so incredible, so nearly 
inconceivable, a miracle would be re- 
quired. Every time we see the Cross, 
we know that the historic events re- 
lated in the Gospels actually occurred. 
We next pass to notice some of the 
symbolic uses made of the Cross at 
4 



50 HISTORY OF THE 

various times. Omitting those super- 
stitious perversions, and legends, which 
are merely interesting to a useless 
curiosity, and with which it would be 
easy to fill volumes, we shall confine 
our attention to those particulars 
which have spiritual power and a 
practical moral in them. 

With deep significance and a beau- 
tiful propriety, the use of the Cross in 
baptism was early introduced into the 
Church. Children were brought to 
the font ; the minister, after a solemn 
prayer, crossed them with the holy 
water, saying, "Receive the sign of 
the Cross in thy forehead, in token 
that thou shalt not be ashamed to 
confess thy faith in Christ crucified." 
Thus, in their innocence, in the morn- 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 51 

ing of life, were they by right dedi- 
cated to God, consecrated through 
baptism into the faith of Christ, in 
promise that they should follow his 
example on earth and join his triumph 
in heaven. They were baptised and 
sealed with the Cross in token that 
they were Ms. Beautiful emblem ! 
God grant all our children may ever 
be his, and keep his Cross in sight. 
Whenever one is baptised in his spot- 
less purity, a worthy offering to him 
who was himself spotless, oh ! let it be 
hoped he will always be guided by 
the unconscious vow, and never forfeit 
that Saviour's protecting love ! 

Memorial Crosses came to be built 
on the site of a martyrdom, a re- 
markable conversion, an important 



52 HISTORY OF THE 

battle, or other great event. They 
were frequently vast structures, con- 
stituting the finest specimens of archi- 
tecture extant. A few of them are 
still standing. One of the very oldest 
Christian monuments in England is a 
stupendous Cross, cut in the steep side 
of a high hill of chalk. It is a hundred 
feet in height, seventy feet in width, 
and the trench is sunk in the chalk 
several feet in depth. This gigantic 
white Cross is visible at a distance of 
more than thirty miles, carrying the 
thoughts of all who recognize its form 
back, over the intervening centuries, 
to a Cross in the outskirts of Jeru- 
salem, and to one dying there, the 
just for the unjust. Many public 
Crosses, and cruciform buildings, were 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 53 

also erected near the markets, and 
other much frequented places of busi- 
ness, in order, as an old writer says, 
" to excite open homage for the reli- 
gion of Christ crucified, and to inspire 
men with a sense of morality and 
piety amidst the ordinary transactions 
of life." If this were now done every- 
where, it could not but be a good 
thing. Let the Cross meet the man 
of the world in the midst of his busi- 
ness, face him at every turn, remind- 
ing him of his Saviour's life of self- 
denial and death of shame, reminding 
him of his God's requirement of him, 
that he should ' deal justly, and love 
mercy,* and walk humbly before 
heaven.' It would be a holy influence 
not unneeded by many a tempted 



54 HISTORY OF THE 

man in many a hurrying and perilous 
hour. 

It seems to us an altogether harm- 
less, nay, a most touching and useful 
custom — the habit so prevalent in the 
middle ages — of erecting crosses and 
open chapels by the way side, as it 
were inviting the passer-by and the 
stranger to remember their Saviour, 
not to neglect their devotions, but 
pause and kneel in confession, and 
lift up the humble voice of petition 
and praise to God. 

"Eugenio marked, when journeying far from home — 

A pilgrim through Italia's classic land, 

On Lithuanian or Iberian strand, 

Where'er old Europe bows to papal Home — 

How oft the Cross near some lone chapel stood, 

Beside the fount, or in the public way, 

That whoso list might there kneel down and pray 

To him, once crucified, who shed his blood 

For all mankind." 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 55 

The ever-open church, the inviting 
altar, the sacred silence only broken 
by the sweet pensive music, allure 
many a soul to prayer, many a thought 
to Jesus, and many a desire to heaven. 
There was a time when it was the 
common custom for helpless men- 
dicants to take their station at the foot 
of crosses set up by the roadside, near 
churches, markets, and other frequent- 
ed places, and there beg for relief in the 
name of Christ. And doubtless many 
an iron-handed knight, many a proud 
baron, his heart softened by the sad 
and sweet memories of him who suf- 
fered and died for all, was penetrated 
with pitying charity for the poor 
broken members of humanity who 
besought liis aid, and liberally gave 



56 HISTORY OF THE 

to them with a tear and a blessing. 
Then was the cross of Christ put to a 
worthy use, its true spirit and power 
felt And is it too fanciful to think 
that often, under such circumstances, 
the divine voice, which centuries 
before had spoken amid the fields of 
Judea, was again heard whispering in 
approving accents to their souls, "Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these my brethren, ye 
have done it unto me." 

In some Christian countries, for a 
long time, public crosses were endowed 
with privilege of sanctuary. Any con- 
demned criminal, escaped prisoner, or 
person pursued by his enemies, who 
should fly to a cross, was to be left in 
peace, as if he had hold of the horns 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 57 

of the altar, revenge and justice were 
compelled to spare him, unless the 
church herself laid hands on him. In 
those lawless and bloody times, such 
refuge was a merciful and fortunate 
provision, often improved by the inno- 
cent, the persecuted, the defenceless. 
How striking and pleasant is the em- 
blem this fact affords ! Now as then, 
though in a different sense, the foot of 
the cross is a sanctuary and a refuge — 
from the cares of the world, from the 
enemies of the soul. He who flies to 
it and prostrates himself there in faith 
and earnest prayer, will find pity and 
pardon, and divine protection ; find 
peace from the fever and turmoil of 
his passions, and hear the benignant 
representative of the Father still ex- 



58 HISTORY OF THE 

claiming with unwearied tenderness, 
" Come unto me all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest." With what figurative truth 
and beauty Bunyan, having pictured 
his heavy-laden pilgrim toiling and 
struggling wearily through a thousand 
difficulties and dangers, shows us how 
the intolerable burden spontaneously 
rolled from his back and disappeared 
forever, the moment he reached the 
foot of the cross. 

Almost from the commencement of 
Christian history we find that those 
to whom the world had lost its charm, 
the disappointed, the repentant, the 
bereaved, the broken-hearted, hermits, 
and those pious men and women who 
retired from the gay vanities of life to 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 59 

the secluded cells of the monastery, 
were wont to soothe their aching 
hearts, kindle their devotions, and 
draw nigh to God and eternity, by 
contemplating the cross bearing an 
image of the dying Christ. Up and 
clown the darkened isles, while strains 
of solemn music stole through the 
deserted silence and floated in plain- 
tive cadences towards purer regions, 
sadly paced the guilty, with self-denial 
and prayer, and with many bitter 
tears, to wash away the memory of 
their sins. A death's head and a cru- 
cifix composed a chief part of the fur- 
niture of each private room. They 
glanced at that dread monitor, and all 
worldly thoughts and fleshly lusts fled 
away. They gazed upon this sad 



60 HISTORY OF THE 

spectacle till their hearts yearned and 
their tears flowed in remembrance of 
him who did so much for them, till 
the absorbing love of God and the 
glorious hope of heaven filled the 
desires of their souls. Well would it 
be for us, in these modern days, in a 
degree to do likewise. Sometimes to 
turn away from the luring toils of 
earth, and its deceitful pleasures, leave 
the dusty arena of worldly rivalry and 
ambition, and retreat to some place 
of lonely devotion ; there to repent 
and pray, and solemnly meditate on 
all the associations and duties and 
promises that gather around the name 
and the cross of Christ. There to 
think of the certainty of death, the 
offered redemption of the Gospel, the 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 61 

open arms of the prodigal's God, the 
immense realities of an unknown eter- 
nity. Ah ! well w r ould it be for most 
of us to dwell less in the world, and 
more with the cross. An hour comes 
when we shall think so. 

It early became a custom with 
Christians to hold the cross over the 
dying, that the last object they saw 
might assure them both of a future 
life and of acceptance with God ; and 
many a weary soul has gently passed 
away in the supporting trust thus 
inspired. " Hold the cross before me 
that I may see it in dying," said Joan of 
Arc when cruelly burnt at the stake ; 
and the last word heard through the 
flames was, " Jesus." In the lone and 
awful crisis when the present was 



62 HISTORY OF THE 

closing and the future unfolding, the 
proud and costly things of the world 
were as dust and mockery, and the 
soul was absorbed in the cross, in the 
priceless symbol of salvation. The 
rich man turned from his treasures, 
the voluptuary from his indulgence, 
the statesman from his plots and fame, 
the king from his royal shows, the 
warrior from his arms and his enemy, 
in the solemn passage of the soul, and, 
clasping the cross to the pallid lips 
and the stiffening bosom, gasped a 
prayer of penitence and trust, and 
died. 

" The sword had conquered kings, 
And the spear through realms had passed, 
But the cross alone of all seen things 
Could avail them at the last." 

It was not uncommon in former 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 63 

ages, when the hour of dissolution 
approached, to scatter on the floor a 
quantity of ashes in the form of a 
cross upon which straw or sackcloth 
was laid as a bed for the dying per- 
son. Three monarchs of France, and 
one of England, expired upon such a 
bed, " yielding up the ghost with their 
arms composed in the shape of the 
cross." Solemn scene ! which, while 
it speaks of the ghastly king who 
preaches in all ears, 'dust to dust/ 
also reminds us of a mightier than he, 
who hath snatched away his sting and 
robbed him of victory. The unfor- 
tunate Mary, Queen of Scots, just 
before she placed her head upon the 
block, having kissed the crucifix, fixed 
her eyes upon it and prayed in these 



64 HISTORY OF THE 

touching words : " Even as thy amies, 
Jesus, was spredd here upon the 
crosse, so receive me into thy armes of 
mercy, and forgive me all my sinnes." 
In this manner the cross sustained 
the faith of the dying as they sank 
down into the shadow of the dark 
valley ; and then it was planted above 
their graves to bid the mourners be 
of good cheer, remembering their 
resurrection in a better world. One 
of the most significant and affecting 
sights in our modern burial grounds 
is the constantly recurring sight of 
the cross, surmounting alike the gilded 
tomb and the nameless hillock; a 
fond memento of what has been, a 
cheering prophecy of what is to be. 
The crosses thus set up over the dead 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 65 

were called mortuary crosses. Two 
of them, made of solid gold, adorned 
with precious stones, and weighing a 
hundred and fifty pounds each, were 
placed upon the supposed sepulchres 
of Peter and Paul — emphatically con- 
trasting their posthumous honors 
with their living poverty, toil, and 
deserted martyrdom. In the defiles 
of the Alps, and among the mountain 
passes of Spain and South America, 
the traveller encounters thousands of 
these rude crosses, each one comme- 
morating the spot where some poor 
wayfarer has perished, either by acci- 
dent, or from the bandit's knife. As 
he passes by these frail mementoes of 
sudden mishap, or of murderous wrath, 
he is expected to breathe a silent 

5 



66 HISTORY OF THE 

prayer in the name of Christ for the 
hapless victim whose fate overtook 
him there. 

It would leave too prominent a 
defect in this sketch of the history of 
the Cross, if we did not allude to its 
public adoption among the belligerent 
nations of Christendom, its emblazonry 
upon the standards and weapons of 
war. In the beginning of the fourth 
century, when Christianity, not yet 
acknowledged by any secular autho- 
rity, was struggling with a precarious 
existence, Constantine, hesitating whe- 
ther to proclaim allegiance to the 
many gods of the old religion or to 
the one God of the new, marched at 
the head of a large army against 
Maxentius. All was uncertainty and 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 67 

hazard before his path, and all was 
indecision and anxiety within his soul. 
Suddenly, as it is related, there ap- 
peared before him in the mid-heaven 
a beaming cross bearing the inscrip- 
tion, ? Conquer by this." He said the 
Saviour told him in a dream the en- 
suing night, to lift the figure of that 
cross and its motto upon his banners, 
and it should lead the way to inva- 
riable victory. It was done. The 
first unhappy union of Church and 
State was sealed and the faith of the 
despised Gallilean, who had not where 
to lay his head, began to be courted 
by princes, began to be installed in 
palaces. The publication of this vision 
and command, we must suppose, was 
either the result of a deep stroke of 



68 HISTORY OF THE 

policy or the deception of a heated 
fancy on the part of the emperor. 
The plan, however, was crowned with 
visible success ; but as they marched 
beneath the mystic Labarum to suc- 
cessive triumphs, they trampled under 
their feet at every step, violated with 
every blow, and insulted with every 
shout, the person, spirit, cross, and 
commandments of him their lips called 
Lord. For that meek sufferer, abjur- 
ing all violence, refused to pray to his 
Father for twelve legions of angels, 
who, in an instant, would have gladly 
stooped from heaven with swords of 
fire to sweep away his foes — but he 
refused. 

Centuries after the bones of Con- 
stantine had crumbled to dust, the 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 69 

example he had thus set was followed 
on a stupendous scale in the Crusades, 
or Holy Wars, falsely so called. 
Europe shook beneath the tread of 
warriors mustering to the sign of the 
Crucified hoisted on their standards. 
As they marched towards Palestine to 
fight the Saracens, each soldier bore a 
red cross broidered on his shoulder. 
The most frightful barbarities and 
carnage ensued, and continued year 
after year. These horrible scenes 
were enacted in the very name, and 
under the shelter of the cross, of him 
who said, " My kingdom is not of this 
world ; if it were, then would my 
servants fight." Among these per- 
versions of the symbol of the religion 
of the prince of peace, the device on 



70 HISTORY OF THE 

the fearful banner of the Spanish 
Inquisition is worthy of notice. It 
was a knotty cross, with an olive 
branch on one side, and a dagger on 
the other. In the modern wars of 
nominal Christendom, the sacred cross 
had been frequently seen reared on 
both sides at once, and the banners 
that bore it bathed in each other's 
blood by the worshippers of a common 
Saviour. The wickedness of man, not 
content with once slaughtering the 
great High Priest, must keep the cross 
freshly stained with his divine blood 
renewedly shed ! 

" Alas that Christians should have e'er unfurled 
This glorious sign, save as betokening peace, 
That where it flew, there war and strife should cease 
Till Christ's pacific empire filled the world ! 
But ah, beneath this banner hath been hurled 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 71 

Hell's worst artillery, death's most cruel darts : 
Revenge and rage have played their murderous parts 
On battle gun-ships where the smoke up-curled 
Its odious shadow and foul stain to cast 
O'er the crossed flags that floated from the mast. 
Oh, when shall come the blest, long-looked for time, 
When, where this ensign floats on land or sea. 
There, Jesus ! shall thy Gospel reign sublime, 
And all who own thy cross shall worship thee !" 

Among the former habits of the 
warlike clans of Scotland was a wild 
picturesque custom, in case of invasion, 
or other national crisis, to transmit a 
Fiery Cross, blazing from its three 
upper points, over the hills and glens, 
from tribe to tribe. With incredible 
swiftness the country was awakened 
and united to repel the danger. So, 
we devoutly trust, in some future age 
a time shall come when the thrilling 
sign of the cross, in its true meaning 



72 HISTORY OF THE 

and power, passed from disciple to dis- 
ciple, and from land to land, shall 
arouse the world to roll back the ag- 
gression of evil, and fulfil the requi- 
sitions of universal duty, to destroy 
the wretched hosts of wrong, and 
unite mankind in one faithful and 
happy band of brothers. God grant 
the help of his Spirit to the prayers 
and labors of good men to establish 
his kingdom on earth; and to that 
end let the Cross of Christ be borne 
aloft, once more, and for the last time, 
as the rallying standard of a nobler 
crusade, which shall summon all right- 
eous and devout souls, not to the deliv- 
erance of an empty and supposititious 
sepulchre, by barbarous force, but to 
the redemption of the living and 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 73 

bleeding body itself of our Lord, by 
the peaceful conquests of truth and 
virtue over error and sin, of piety and 
happiness over unbelief and misery, 
of brotherhood, equality and freedom, 
over hatred, pride and slavery, of 
heavenly harmony over infernal dis- 
cord, and of a glorious immortality 
over death. 

In tracing down the lineal history 
of the Cross, we must notice that its 
fate in Japan forms a dark episode, 
and emphasizes an important moral. 
The early labors of the Jesuit mis- 
sionaries in that flourishing and popu- 
lous empire were attended by remark- 
able success. With proverbial cun- 
ning adapting the externals of their 
system closely to those of the pre- 



74 HISTORY OF THE 

vailing religion of the land, they 
made converts by thousands through 
the astonishing wisdom, intrepidity, 
indomitable energy, self-sacrifice and 
zeal they displayed. Having risen 
to great consideration and influence, 
they began to take part in political 
affairs, and finally united in a reso- 
lute attempt to possess themselves 
of the government of the country, 
which they very nearly succeeded in 
doing. The unconverted portion of 
the Japanese, aroused by this apparent 
treachery and incipient effort to wrest 
all their rights from them, rose upon 
the missionaries and their adherents, 
slew great numbers of them and ban- 
ished the rest. Since that time the 
Buddhists of Japan have looked upon 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 75 

every sign of Christianity, especially 
upon the Cross, with inveterate hate 
and unassembled horror. Annually 
they trample that object beneath their 
feet with rage and scorn in the tem- 
ples and in the streets. Its sign is 
stamped on the quay of the only port 
Christians are allowed to enter, where 
every one who lands steps upon it. 
That empire probably will be the last 
in the world to bow to the sceptre of 
Jesus. When Christian missionaries 
use sophistry, concealment and deceit, 
engage in treasonous plots, employ 
violence to secure their ends, how 
much more, in the long run, they lose 
than they can gain ! How painful it 
is to think of the causes of the pres- 
ent fate and prospects of the Cross in 



76 HISTORY OF THE 

that crowded island, so blessed and 
choice with beauties in clime and soil, 
so benighted and bigoted in creed 
and policy ! 

One of the most frequent and strik- 
ing uses the cross was formerly put 
to, was the neutralizing of spells, the 
casting out of evil spirits, and the 
working of other kindred magical ef- 
fects. It was supposed that before 
the sign of the Cross all wicked charms 
were instantly reversed, all demons 
exorcised, all the wiles of hell baffled, 
and that the devil himself, reminded 
thereby of his fatal overthrow on Cal- 
vary, fled. The old Christian writers 
are full of miracles w r rought by the 
simple making of this sign. Many of 
these legends are as beautiful as they 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 77 

are marvellous ; others are ludicrous, 
or coarse, or terriffic. It is remarka- 
ble, how every superstitious belief or 
custom is underlaid and informed, as 
it was probably originated, by a pro- 
found spiritual verity and moral. In 
the present instance the miraculous 
efficacy of the sign of the cross in 
vanquishing infernal powers, should 
be to us a symbol of the power of 
truth and love over evil — of faith 
and piety over the sorrows of the 
flesh and the temptations of the world. 
Let the token of purity be seen, and 
lust cowers and hides itself: before 
the manifest token of forgiveness and 
love how quickly anger and hatred 
fly ! At the sign of truth and good- 
ness error and sin disappear. The 



78 HISTORY OF THE 

sign of the cross banishes Satan. And 
though we trust not the letter of the 
tale, we are awed by the sublimity of 
the doctrine which looks yet to see 
that sign of the Son of Man in heav- 
en, and on a scale so vast that it shall 
be visible to the whole universe when 
the stars are falling, and the elements 
melting, and Death and Hell with all 
their victims shall gaze on it and on 
Him whom they pierced, and shall 
flee away, and no place be found for 
them. 

" Jesus of Nazareth, king of the 
Jews." "When Pilate wrote this in- 
scription, and, saying, " What I have 
written I have written," ordered it to 
be placed on the cross of Christ over 
his head, he little dreamed it would 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 79 

one day be repeated through the 
world, not as mockery, but as loyalty. 
But so it is, and the fact preaches 
more loudly than thunders of the 
folly and madness of opposing the in- 
tentions of God, the cause of truth 
and man. The most astonishing and 
inspiring page in the annals of time, 
is the page which recounts the tri- 
umphs of this instrument, once the 
symbol of all that is ignominious, now 
of all that is divine and enduring. 
Among the mountains of Auvergne 
stands an altar of heathen worship, a 
Druid rocking stone overgrown with 
moss and age, surmounted by a rude 
Cross, probably a thousand years old. 
No traveller passes it without emotion 
and thought. It is at once a memo- 



80 HISTORY OF THE 

rial of the past conquests of the re- 
ligion of Christ crucified over the 
pagan faiths, and a prophecy of its 
future reign without a rival. A still 
more emphatic emblem of the destined 
universality of the empire of Christi- 
anity was afforded by the sceptre of 
Theodosius. It was a globe crowned 
by a cross, meant to represent the earth 
subdued, to the faith of Christ. The 
same symbol, we believe, is always 
placed in the hand of a monarch of 
Great Britain at his coronation, and 
was held by the present Queen during 
that eremony. But not only has the 
Cross climbed to the tops of altars, 
the domes of temples, the spires of 
churches, to proclaim its triumph. It 
has also ascended into the sky, and 
there, as 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 81 

" Of man's redemption autograph supreme, 
Is fitly charactered by stars in heaven." 

In the southern firmament is a well 
known constellation, composed of five 
large stars located in a cruciform shape, 
called "The Cross of the South." 
From that splendid spot in the heav- 
ens it looks down upon the earth and 
preaches the resurrection and deifica- 
tion of Christ and of the cause for 
which he gave his life. There the sign 
of the Son of Man is seen in heaven. 
And far beyond it Jesus himself lives, 
and reigns, and invites his followers to 
come unto him. In Dante's ascent 
through the successive spheres of Par- 
adise, in the fifth heaven he saw the 
souls of those who had gloriously died 
for the faith, ranged in the sign of a 

6 



82 HISTORY OF THE 

cross, athwart which, spirits, like scin- 
tillating lights, met and passed to the 
sound of a melodious hymn. The 
religious imagination here finds still 
another application of the words, 
" The sign of the Son of Man shall 
appear in heaven." 

A few words more must bring these 
feeble illustrations of a vast, solemn, 
and gladdening theme to a close. 
Originally, the prominent aspect of 
the cross was its inexpressible cruelty 
and injustice. It was the most appall- 
ing tragedy ever enacted amidst the 
darkened heavens and the shuddering 
earth by the unfeeling sin of man. 
And yet what good, what unbounded 
and eternal good, has flowed from it ! 
It is the greatest illustration given by 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 83 

history of the marvellous providence 
of God, how it educes good from evil, 
and converts even the wrath of man 
to praise. It was horror, agony, 
and fear a few moments ; it is bless- 
ing, power, and sanetification forever. 
A worthy treatise, anything like an 
adequate portrayal of the effects of 
the crucifixion, is yet to be written. 
The influence of the sacrifice of Jesus 
in drawing attention to his religion 
and aiding in its diffusion ; its influ- 
ence in softening, purifying, and 
strengthening the sympathies of the 
human heart ; its influence in awaken- 
ing, rectifying, enthroning the moral 
conscience; its influence in quicken- 
ing the spiritual aspirations and loves 
of the soul, creating true piety ; its 



84 HISTORY OF THE 

resulting influence in reforming, re- 
fining, advancing civilization, and in 
other respects, have effected results 
which otherwise, in all human proba- 
bility would not have been secured, 
and which, in value and amount are 
well nigh incalculable. The actual 
good effects traceable specifically to 
the crucifixion of Christ, infinitely 
outweigh all the evil connected with 
it. In its revealed meaning and pow- 
er, it has conferred upon unnumbered 
thousands as much comfort and joy as 
it originally inflicted sorrow and pain 
upon one. The bearing of his own 
cross by the Saviour as our example, 
has consoled and inspired millions to 
bear their crosses with a peaceful joy, 
a divine resignation, an all suffering 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 85 

faith and love towards God, and an 
undoubting hope of heaven, which 
they would not have known were it 
not written, "And they took Jesus 
and led him away ; and he, bearing 
his cross, went forth." And who will 
undertake to estimate the power, the 
softening, spiritualizing power, that 
has gone forth, and w r ill go forth more 
and more through all coming ages, 
from the Prayer of the Cross. "Fath- 
er, forgive them, for they know not 
wdiat they do." Poor spurned out- 
cast, unpitied victim of injustice, sor- 
rowful and weary sufferer, go 

" Weigh thy grief with the cross 
Of Christ, and see which is the heavier." 

If the Cross of Christ could be oblite- 
rated from the history of the world 



86 HISTORY OF THE 

as if the crucifixion had never been, 
the most blessed and powerful influ- 
ence ever exerted upon the heart of 
humanity would be destroyed. The 
history of the Cross teaches us, as no 
other history can teach, that God, the 
Father, orders and overrules all things, 
making light follow darkness, good 
spring out of evil, Christendom come 
from the Crucifixion. 

The members of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church have always cherished, 
sanctified and revered the Cross al- 
most to idolatry. They have used it 
as a spiritual symbol and power in a 
thousand ways, frequently with ex- 
ceeding beauty, solemn majesty, irre- 
sistible pathos and the best effects. 
The whole history of their Church, 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 87 

exterior and interior, gathers around 
it. Inexpressible associations cling 
about it ; volumes of legends are con- 
nected with it. It has attended the 
travels, prominently marked the rites 
and crowned the altars of all their 
missionaries. It has gleamed like a ray 
from heaven before the eyes of their 
dying. It is carried, costly enough 
to ransom empires, before the Pope in 
gorgeous processions. It is placed, 
rude and humble and unattractive to 
the senses, in lonely cells where it 
awakens thrills of awe and delight in 
the bosoms of poor monks. 

In the far-off isle of San Shan sleep 
the ashes of Francis Xavier, and his 
simple but magnificent epitaph is 
crowned by a humble cross, to which 



88 HISTORY OF THE 

pilgrimages are made, and where 
irrepressible tears are shed. On the 
banks of the Penobscot and of the 
Mississippi, in Florida and Newfound- 
land, in Mexico and at the Cape of 
Good Hope, amid the icy wastes of 
Scythia, on the balmy islands of the 
tropical ocean, and in the central re- 
cesses of China, the pathetic linea- 
ments of the Cross tell the traveller 
that there reposes some martyred 
brother of the Society of Jesus. The 
orphan, the widow, the sick and af- 
flicted, the beggar, the wretched out- 
cast and sinner have found consolation, 
strength and peace in it, when there 
was no other comfort for them. Words- 
worth speaks of its effect upon him 
when displayed in the annual cere- 
monies of the Church. 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 89 

" Mine ear has rung, my spirit sunk subdued. 
Sharing the strong emotion of the crowd, 
When each pale brow to dread hosannas bowed, 
While clouds of incense mounting, veiled the rood 
That glimmered like a pine-tree dimly viewed 
Through Alpine vapors. Such appalling rite 
Our Church prepares not, trusting to the might 
Of simple truth with grace divine imbued ; 
Yet will we not conceal the precious Cross, 
Like men ashamed : the Sun, with his first smile 
Shall greet that symbol crowning the low pile : 
And the fresh air of incense-breathing morn 
Shall wooingly embrace it ; and green moss 
Creep round its arms through centuries unborn." 

Though it may be true that the Cath- 
olics have abused the Cross by gross 
superstitions, it must be confessed in 
their hands it is clothed with an af- 
fecting power which, in different 
ways, is calculated to touch the 
deepest springs of devotion, melt 
the hard heart, and animate the spir- 



90 HISTORY OF THE 

itual mind. Protestants, in their re- 
vulsion, went altogether too far, threw 
away some of the tenderest, most effi- 
cacious and hallowed methods of 
Christian influence. Since we, there- 
fore, unimaginative, unspiritual de- 
scendants of the Puritans, have not 
these outward incitements, and are 
not likely, in our hard and literal 
worldliness to adopt them, let us deep- 
ly stamp in our souls, and carry there, 
the sign of the Cross, an ever-present 
memento, pleading with us to be mind- 
ful of the claims of Him who loved 
us and gave himself for us that we 
might be reconciled to God. Let his 
spiritual image be formed in us ; his 
truth and love, his self-sacrifice and 
heavenly-mindedness ; then will the 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 91 

bearing of his cross be our pride, and 
perseverance in his service be its own 
exceeding great reward. 

As a Christian traveller was roam- 
ing one morning among the valleys 
of the Alps, he saw, planted upon a 
frowning cliff, just above him, a hum- 
ble cross, around which Nature had, 
w T ith the most touching beauty and 
significance, twined a blooming cluster 
of forget-me-nots. At that moment 
the ascending sun sent its beams full 
upon the spot. The effect was singu- 
larly striking — the dark w r ood, the 
grey rock, the green vine, the painted 
flowers, all bathed in the rich golden 
light. He knelt down and poured out 
his soul in communion with God and 
heaven. The scene before him seem- 



92 HISTORY OF THE 

ed to say with audible voice, as if 
Jesus himself were saying, " Forget 
me not, forget not me who suffered 
and died for you ; remember and love 
me, as I have remembered and loved 
you." 0, who would not spontaneous- 
ly reply to such an appeal, "Dear 
Saviour, never will I forget thee ; I 
will remember thee, love thee, obey 
thee, and pray that thou wilt accept 
me, forgiving my unworthiness ! " The 
cross of Christ wreathed with forget- 
me-nots ! Let such an affecting sym- 
bol be set up in the hearted memo- 
ry of every one who hopes hereafter 
to meet him. " He that taketh not 
his cross and followeth after me, is not 
worthy of me." Christian, bear thy 
cross in a patient, cheerful spirit of 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 93 

faith and love, and it shall grow 
lighter and lighter till it bears 
thee — bears thee up to heaven, where, 
instead of it, Christ shall give thee a 
crown. 



94 HISTORY OF THE 



" glorious Cross ! Eternity and Time 
Meet on this pillar of the truth of God : 
There, Justice wields heaven's sin-avenging rod — 
There, Mercy bleeds for man's stupendous crime : 
O, glorious Cross ! when shall this truth sublime — 
That He who died upon that altar lives 
Above, and prays for man : that power he gives 
To all who pray through him that they may climb, 
glorious Cross ! up towards the Father's throne — 
O, when shall this high truth to every heart 
Grace, joy, salvation, Christian life impart, 
And all mankind seek bliss in that alone ? 
0, glorious Cross ! Faith trusts the day to see, 
When Hope shall turn all eyes, Love draw all hearts 
to thee." 



CROSS OF CHRIST. 95 



Immortal 

Christ, I pray 

To thee : 

Oh, say 

To me, 

Sweet Jesus, that thou wilt abode take up 

With me when I have cleansed my sinful heart ; 

And when I taste thy sacramental cup 

Still whisper that thou never wilt depart. 

Oh Lord, 

I kneel 

Thy word 

To feel : 

My grief 

Doth see 

Relief 

In Thee, 

And while 

I weep, 

Thy smile 

Doth keep 

My soul in cheer. 

And falling here, 

God's heaven is near. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



